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A-Z of LECTURES and CATEGORIES

Glossary

*

In this Glossary denotes a cross-reference to another Entry.

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This is the shaded horizontal bar located towards the top of each screen. Clicking on a character in the sequence provides an alphanumerically ordered list of Subject Categories* followed by one of Records* whose Organization Titles* start with that character.

< Organization >

Device used simply to bring the title of the Organization to the top of an A-Z sequence - often then to be followed by Records* of Affiliates, Branches, Sections etc of the Organization. Such titles do not appear in the A-Z sequence accessed from the top of the Directory frame, but they are fully searchable using Simple and Advanced Search*. (If for some reason you wanted to see a current A-Z list of such Organizations, type the single character '>' in the Organization field in Advanced Search.)

Access 'Live' Recordings

See Online Lectures & Talks*

Address

See Venue*

Advanced Search

Allows one to search for data in certain defined Fields* of each Directory Record* - either singly or in combination. Such a search can be across the whole Directory; or it can just be within a specific section of the Subject Categories*. If you restrict your search to a specific Subject Category section, you should retrieve items classified with that Category as well as those classified with any of its Sub-Categories. Thus, for instance, specifying 'Science, Technology & Medicine' also will retrieve items classified with 'Chemistry', 'Ornithology Clubs & Societies', 'The Medical Sciences' and so on and so forth. Naturally, if you just want Records of Organizations within such a more specific discipline, then enter its subject category name rather than the name of the broader category.

In the Advanced Search 'free text' Fields, your search string can be any number of characters in length, even just one.

In general, make sure that you set the Advanced Search either to return results if all of the search elements are present in a Record (this is equivalent to Boolean 'And', and is the default); or to return results if any of the search elements are present in a Record (which is equivalent to Boolean 'Or'): i.e. be careful to note the setting of the toggle at the top of the form. See also Simple Search* and the Tab "How to Search".

All Are Welcome

Normally, Organizations will only be referenced in the Directory if all are welcome at their Events: i.e. before attending a lecture or talk, you do not have to be a certain age, sex, or ethnicity; or have a particular qualification or a specific expertise; or be officially enrolled on a course of study; or be formally elected into membership; or be able to undertake some challenging activity or pursuit;or commit yourself to a certain belief or philosophy; and so on and so forth - though of course some such might well be an outcome of your attendance at the talk or lecture ... See also Exclusions* and Inclusions*.

Also Indexed

Used for parent bodies of the Organization whose Record* this is; also for historical and alternative Organization Titles*, subsidiary or cognate bodies and so on (normally) not given separate entries in the Directory*.

Annual Lecture

Subject Category* within 'All Sorts of Subject' which has copies of Records* of Organizations whose sole or principal open lecture/talk is an Annual Lecture. Intended as a useful checklist, with the Latest Date* given in a separate Field*.

Country/Region

Uses the data taken from the Gazetteer of British Place Names* (apart from for Northern Ireland). The Countries are: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales. The nine ('historic') English Regions are: East Midlands, Eastern, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber.

Directory

This is the core of Open Lectures and Talks and consists of a collection of Records*, each single Record giving details pertaining to a single Organization*, and including within the Record information about its lectures/talks programme, and occasionally about the Organization itself.

Directory Statistics

Calculated automatically by the software; displayed at the top of the left-hand column of each screen.

District/Unitary Authority

The village/town/city of each Venue* is located within its official District or Unitary Authority, using the Gazetteer of British Place Names* (For Northern Ireland, which is not covered by the Gazetteer, I have usually been able to generate something equivalent to District/Unitary Authority (and Historic County*), often using Wikipedia.) See the website of the Gazetteer for a description of their use of the two designations: each of the 50,000 or so places listed therein are located either within a 'District' or within a 'Unitary Authority' - and I have done the same.

I have made a very small number of changes to the listings in the Gazetteer: Isle of Man has been designated as a District/Unitary Authority (rather than being located in Dumfries & Galloway); City of London becomes 'The City' (to avoid what could be a misleading use of the word 'London' within this Field); Rhondda, Cynon, Taff has been changed to Rhondda/Cynon/Taff; and where 'and' occurs in a name it has been replaced by '&'.

Exclusions

From the Glossary entry All Are Welcome*, you should be able to infer the types of bodies which will automatically be excluded from the Directory because "all are NOT welcome" at their events. Beyond that, I have tended to exclude organizations which have the following characteristics (even though for many "all" might indeed be welcome to attend the lectures/talks they offer). These are organizations:

* Whose meetings presuppose some positive involvement by the participants, a significant degree of interactivity, practical work, positive commitment: e.g. art societies, magician groups, meditation sessions, training workshops; also many events organized by campaigning, political, religious, and similar bodies. I have tried to ask myself: Would one be able to attend the advertised 'lecture' or 'talk' and, as it were, sit at the back, unnoticed and untroubled?

* Which offer events where the spoken word cannot really be considered a 'lecture' or a 'talk': e.g. church sermons, masterclasses, (many) poetry readings, performance groups, press conferences, recorded music society meetings, storytelling sessions;

* Which organize conferences, meetings, workshops and similar events extending over several hours or days, and where one has to book for the whole, and cannot just attend individual lectures and talks;

* Who only list 'seminars' within their event programmes, especially where these are taking place in academic institutions (and note that although such seminars will frequently be annotated "Open to all" or some such, what is frequently meant is "Open to all members of the university or college which is the parent body of the Department/School/Centre/Institute etc. sponsoring the seminar");

* Where the events programme comprises field trips, guided tours, site visits, etc. where any 'talk' or 'lecture' mentioned is likely to be a very minor part of the whole;

* Whose meetings take place in "Members' Homes";

* Which offer events directed primarily at children and young people;

* When the cost of attending their events is substantial (either upfront, or at the time, or both).

Field

The different parts of each Record*, whose titles are: Also Indexed; District/Unitary Authority; Historic County; Map; Named Lectures & Talks; Navigate Website;Online Lectures & Talks; Open Lectures & Talks; Organization Description; Organization Title; Postcode; Some more information; Subject Category; Type of Body; URL was last checked; Various Places; Venue; Views 'Full' Record + MAP; Visits to Website; Website. Fields which are empty are not displayed in the relevant Record in the Directory*. This Glossary has separate descriptions for each of these Fields.

Gazetteer of British Place Names

"The Gazetteer provides an exhaustive Place Name Index to Great Britain [but not NORTHERN IRELAND], containing over 50,000 entries. It lists the historic county and the main administrative areas in which each place lies." An excellent facility.

SEE http://www.gazetteer.co.uk/

Historic County

Each District/Unitary Authority* is cross-referenced to Historic County using the online Gazetteer of British Place Names*. (For Northern Ireland, not covered by the Gazetteer, the UK version of Wikipedia usually provides an equivalent to 'Historic County'.)

I have made one major change to 'Historic County' usage in the Directory*: venues in the 32 London Boroughs plus The City (City of London) have been placed in one of two additional "Counties", rather than being spread across Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. London - Central encompasses all venues within the (old) London Underground Circle Line - with the occasional addition of venues just outside the Line which are within walking distance of a tube station on the Line, and which would probably be thought of as being located in 'Central London'. All other venues within the London Boroughs are indexed London - Outer. Both these designations appear in the Advanced Search* drop-down list Historic County*. Meanwhile, entering the search term 'London' should retrieve Records* for all organizations offering lectures/talks throughout the whole conurbation (plus other Records which happen to have the word 'London' somewhere within their searchable data). 'London' as a whole is also one of the nine (historic) English Regions, referenced within the Field Country/Region*.

The Gazetteer website summarizes the advantages of using Historic Counties as a geographical framework:

(i) They are fixed in name and area.

(ii) They have provided the standard geographical framework of Britain for centuries. They are the only geographical framework which can logically be used for the description of past events. The relation of present and future events to the past requires their use. Imagine trying to write a history of Britain based upon sets of areas which radically changed every 20 years or so !

(iii) Their names and areas are still generally familiar to many people. Indeed, they are still commonly used by many as a basis for general-purpose geography.

(iv) They are still important cultural entities. Many people have a strong sense of loyalty to and identify with their county. Innumerable sporting, social and cultural activities are still based upon them.

(v) The names of all of the historic counties are now an acceptable part of Royal Mail postal addresses. (In contrast many modern local government area names are not acceptable since they clash with Post Town names).

How to Search

See the 'Tab' above the Directory*, and the Glossary entries Advanced Search*, Search the Directory*.

Inclusions

Although sometimes not strictly (accompanied by) a 'lecture' or 'talk', I have tended to include Organizations* which offer (open to the public): book launches and signings; conversations; debates; discussions; panels; readings. See also All Are Welcome*, and cf Exclusions*.

Latest Date(s)

Phrase often used in the Field Open Lectures & Talks* where an event takes place annually, or on some other regular basis. I have taken the latest date(s) noticed during cross-checking of the relevant Website* against its Record*: this can thus be retrospective, or prospective. See also Annual Lecture*.

Map

The Directory* software links to an API Key from Google Maps UK: this produces a 'Marker' on the appropriate section of a map of the United Kingdom, showing the location of the Venue*. Google generates this customized Map using the Venue address I have given in the Record*: I have often adjusted the result if I know or suspect it is not as helpful as it might be. (If there is no specific address given for Venue, and instead we have an entry of the type { Venues across the ... }*, there will be no Map.) The Map segment with its marker is reproduced at the bottom of the page underneath all the data of the relevant 'Full' Record. There will be some Maps where the location of the marker is wrong - despite my best efforts; but for the great majority the Google-based system seems to work well. If you click on the Google icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the customized Map you will generate a larger area standard Google Map in a separate window having all the usual Google service facilities - including a Print button.

Named Lectures & Talks

Annual Lectures or Lecture Series named after an eminent person, or otherwise given a distinctive title.

Navigate Website

Here you might find the hyperlink route to be followed from the website page generated by the URL I have given in the Record*, to the website page where you should find information about the Organization's current programme of lectures/talks. On the Organization's Website itself, click on each word/phrase that follows '>>>' in the web page you have just arrived at.

New!

The Organization Titles* of Records* newly added to the Directory* in the previous 30 days have this annotation. A list of 100 'New' Records can be retrieved by clicking '>>> 100 Recent Additions' at the foot of the list of Organizations recently added to the Directory (bottom of the left-hand column). The Titles appear roughly in reverse chronological order (i.e. the latest added first).

Online Lectures & Talks

Field* to note audio, video, etc versions of lectures/talks made available by the Organization*, including podcasts, webcasts and similar. For many Organizations, needs further investigation.

At the start of the Directory, there is a Subject Category Access 'Live' Recordings which primarily provides copies of the entries for Organizations which have 'significant' offerings of online lectures and talks.

Open Lectures & Talks

Mandatory Field* summarizing the Organization's lectures/talks programme. Four important points:

* First, 'Open' is not necessarily 'Free of Charge': indeed, for the majority of the Organizations listed, if you intend attending their meetings regularly, they expect you to become a Member, paying an Annual Subscription; for many others, there will be a charge for each lecture or talk - either up-front, or at the door. However, as noted under Exclusions*, I do not list Organizations whose charges are relatively large, or seem to be, given the type of events on offer.

* Second, the norm is for me to 'copy and paste' from the Organization Website* a very short piece of text indicating what is on offer. But sometimes I go a little further, reproducing something more extended that I found interesting, or well expressed, or occasionally that just amused me! Obviously, whatever is copied will not in any sense be a comprehensive description of what you might find if you decide to engage with the Organization. But I trust it will be sufficient to whet your appetite (or not, as the case might be ...).

* Third, lots of the Organizations referenced do not offer lectures/talks throughout the whole year: a substantial proportion engage in outdoors activities during the 'Summer', and only have a relevant programme of activities during the 'Winter'; or they may be academic bodies just scheduling events during term time; or the series of lectures or talks referenced may only run for a few weeks or months; and so forth. Frequently, you will only discover such by clicking through to the details on the Website, because the piece of text I have reproduced will not make that explicit.

* Fourth, especially with the larger or more complex organizations, I have often chosen to highlight just one maybe quite small facet of their overall programme of lectures/talks. The relevant Website will then reveal other offerings which might well be more pertinent to your interests than the offering I have chosen.

Open To All

See All Are Welcome*

Organization Description

Where a Description is provided - and there is frequently no description for Organizations which operate following a standard pattern - the text is always 'cut and pasted' from the Organization Website*: it appears at the foot of the 'Full' Record*, above the Map* (if there is a map). Inevitably this will only be a partial portrait. But by reproducing what the body says about itself, rather than making up my own text, I have tried to avoid making a judgement on the relative value of the Organization in the world at large. My choice of text nevertheless is bound to be subjective, reflecting what I find to be of interest and importance; and this might well not be what you would have chosen to highlight about the Organization.

Organization Title

I have tried always to use the Title as it appears on the Organization Website*. Where a Named Lecture (series) is the only Organizational offering cited in the Directory*, I will usually use the title of the Lecture (series) itself as the 'Organization Title': e.g. (The) Reith Lectures, citing the parent organization (BBC) in the Field Also Indexed*. (In other cases, the 'Name' of the Lecture (series) will appear in the Field Named Lectures & Talks*.)

Where branches or subsections of an Organization are given separate entries in the Directory, the norm is for me to reproduce the Title of Parent Organization and after a dash ( - ) give the name of the Branch.

Postcode

Occasionally, establishing accurate Venue* postcodes can be problematic - which can lead to inaccuracies on the relevant Maps*, and failures when searching using Postcode. Note that - as is the norm in Simple Search* - you will need to enter at least three characters of the Postcode (Area) you are interested in (e.g. 'NR2' rather than just 'NR').

Print

Click on the word 'Print' at the foot of the 'Brief' Record*, or in the bar of each 'Full' Record located underneath the Field Data here last reviewed*. As well as enabling you to print the 'Full' Record (but not its Map*, if present), you will be able to see at a glance the complete content of each of its Fields. (Most of the time, you will find that the content of the 'Full' Record is for your purposes identical to that of the 'Brief' Record. So unless you want to peruse the Map, it will not be worthwhile accessing the 'Full' Record.)

Recently Added Listings

The system provides a list of the latest 100 Records* added to the Directory*, each such Record annotated 'New!' against its Organization Title*. The section 'Organizations recently added to the Directory', found in the left-hand column, lists the very latest 25 additions, with - for each entry - its (hyperlinked) Subject Category* underneath. You can see all 100 recent additions by clicking >>> 100 Recent Additions at the foot of the 25 entries.

Recommend

Click on the word 'Recommend', either at the foot of each 'Brief' Record*, or in the bar for each 'Full' Record located underneath the Field URL was last checked*. You should then be able to send an e-mail which will give the recipient a URL enabling him/her to link directly to that same 'live' Record within Open Lectures and Talks. Meanwhile, you might receive a message: "Your recommendation has been successfully sent to [Name]".

Record

The collection of Fields* of data captured for each Organization* in the Directory*. After clicking a Subject Category* heading or carrying out a Search*, the system displays a set of 'Brief' Records, sorted and displayed alphanumerically by Organization Title*. Clicking the Title of a 'Brief' Record displays its 'Full' Record. In comparison with its 'Brief' Record a 'Full' Record will contain additional information in the Fields* Type of Body*, URL was last checked* as well as the custom-made Map* (unless there is no Map because events are held in Various Places*). Optionally, there might also be information in the Fields: Navigate Website*; Organization Description*; Some more information*.

Search the Directory

For (the 'Brief' version of) a Record* to be retrieved in a 'Simple Search'* (as against an 'Advanced Search'*), each string of characters typed into the Search ... Box (top right of the screen), must in total be at least 3 and not more than 20 characters; and the characters must match some part of the text in the Fields matched in Simple Search*. That is, the strings of characters - each separated by a space - must be present somewhere within the text of at least one of these Fields for a Record* to be retrieved. (Thus there is an implicit Boolean 'And'.) TRY typing in 'lib' to the Search ... Box; then repeat the search with 'lib' separated by a space from 'lec'; then 'lib' separated by spaces from 'lec' and 'oxf' to get the idea. (However, you would soon find that it is easy to create exceptions to the process described. But these seem relatively unimportant - and, in any case, use instead of the Advanced Search* facility will normally produce a more optimal response.)

Simple Search

The text of ten of the Fields* in each Record* will be matched by text placed in the Simple Search ... Box. These are: Also Indexed*; Country/Region*; District/Unitary Authority*; Historic County*; Named Lectures & Talks*; Organization Title*; Postcode*; Type of Body*; Various Places*; Venue*. Such a 'Simple' search naturally does not distinguish the Fields it is matching with the search string(s) you input - which from time to time can generate some initially puzzling results, particularly where each string input has matched characters in the middle of a word ! (TRY 'sea' and 'soc' together.) Note that a 'Simple Search' will also retrieve the titles of any Subject Categories containing the search character string(s) input: the Subject Categories are listed first, followed by any 'Brief' format Records retrieved. See also Search the Directory*, Advanced Search*, and the Tab 'How to Search'.

Some more information

A Field* used occasionally to note aspects of Venue*, details on membership of the Organization, other lectures/talks offered, and so forth: pieces of information which seemed worth capturing at the time the relevant Record* was prepared.

Subject Category

The subject classification scheme used has been specially devised for this Directory* - with all the caveats that such an attempt implies. Note that Category Headings are matched in Simple Search*: TRY a search using the character string 'lit'. The first figure in brackets given after each Category Heading so retrieved is the number of any Subject Sub-Categories; the second is the total number of Records* within that subject section - including in any Sub-Categories of the parent Category.

Type of Body

I have characterized some 30 types of Organization: see the drop-down list in Advanced Search*. I am not sure of the value of such characterization, given the inevitable imprecision of type definitions, and the overwhelming predominance in the Directory* of Organizations which are labelled as "Local Society".

URL was last checked

Latest date when I used the given URL successfully to link to the cited Website*.

Various Places

Used instead of Venue* where events can move around the country; or the Organization* has Branches or other sub-sections, each of which offer lectures/talks in different places.

Venue

The address where lectures/talks are currently and normally presented and which is given on the Website*: this helps generate the Google Map* reference. Use cautiously: the same venue might be described differently in different parts of the Directory; venues can frequently vary for the odd meeting or so (but I have erred on the side of providing a specific venue, as this will usually indicate the broad area of the UK where events are being held); venues can easily change more permanently, but such change may not yet have been entered into the relevant Record*; the venues might be rather vague (e.g. University of X); they might later turn out to have been misleading or even just plain wrong; and so forth.

Nevertheless, despite all that, it seemed on balance worth having the data in the Venue Field matched in Simple Search*. Not surprisingly, this can sometimes generate a hotch-potch of retrieved Records where a word is commonly used in venue addresses as well as within Organization Titles (TRY 'Trinity'). On the other hand, given that many Districts/Unitary Authorities* are topographically extensive (and some do not exactly have names that trip off the tongue), being able to type in, say, 'Salisbury' or 'Truro' and get directly to organizations with venues based in those cities I felt might be encouraging to those new to this Directory. And use of the Venue Field in Advanced Search* may just help trace organizations offering lectures/talks in relatively elusive towns, villages, streets, even buildings - at least for those not familiar with the relevant part of the country.

{ Venues across the ... }

Used in the Record Field Various Places* instead of District/Unitary Authority* where lectures and talks are, or can be, held in different venues over time. I have tried to follow these guidelines:

* '... United Kingdom' covers at least two of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (and there is also '... England', '... Scotland', etc);

* '... Region' denotes more than one County and can sometimes correspond directly to one of the nine English Regions I have indexed elsewhere in the Record;

* '... County' normally equates to Historic County* (and the name of the County itself should also be cited in the Record);

* '... Area' refers to a geographical area less than that of the county or counties within which it lies;

* '... London' is cited where the lectures/talks are or might be (likely to be) held at different addresses in (usually Central) London.

Views 'Full' Record + MAP

Subject to a significant number of constraints, aims to add one to the counter each time a user views a 'Full' Record* - with its custom-made Map*: either by clicking through from the relevant 'Brief' Record (however, the counter is not added to if one views the contents of the 'Full' Record in the Print* screen); or directly - for example after a Google search, or because one has been sent an e-mail Recommend* by a friend or colleague.

Visits to Website

Subject to a significant number of constraints, aims to add one to the counter each time there is a visit to the Website* of the Organization* from the Directory* (either from the 'Brief' or from the 'Full' Record* of the Organization, or from the Print* screen).

Website

The URL given in each 'Brief' and 'Full' Record* should direct you to the Organization's Website page on which there are details of the current programme of lectures/talks - unless it has seemed prudent to reference a page higher up the hierarchy: see Navigate Website*.